Paris Hilton
Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2005 5:52 am
Who is the closest Roman equivalent to Paris Hilton: rich, beautiful (to many anyway), and apparently lacking any sexual mores/shame? Candidates please!
Celebrating the living Roman Way and the legacy of the Roman world. For current discussions, visit us at [societas-via-romana] on Google Groups.
http://societasviaromana.net/phpBB3/
http://societasviaromana.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1150
Wikipedia wrote:As a widow, Clodia became known as a merry one. Around 60 BC, her favourite lover was the poet Gaius Valerius Catullus. Madly in love with her, Catullus wrote several poems about his feelings towards Lesbia, the name he gave her. From the poems, the reader can understand that the relationshop was not an exclusive one. Clodia maintained several other lovers, including Marcus Caelius Rufus, Catullus' friend. This particular affair would cause an immense scandal. After the relationship with Caelius was over in 56 BC, Clodia publicly accused him of attempted poisoning. The accusation led to a murder charge and trial. Caelius' defence lawyer was Cicero, who took a harsh approach against her, recorded in his speech Pro Caelio. Cicero had a personal interest in the case, as Publius Clodius was his bitterest political enemy. Among other things, Clodia was accused of being a seducer and a drunkard in Rome and in Baiae, as well as committing incest with her brother Publius. He declared her a disgrace to her family and nicknamed Clodia the Medea of the Palatine.
Wikipedia wrote:Her reputation is very poor. A number of Roman historians (mainly Tacitus and Suetonius) portray her as a cruel, avaricious, foolish nymphomaniac who had many wild affairs and once challenged a notorious Roman prostitute named Scylla to an all-night sex competition. (Scylla gave up at dawn, but Messalina continued well into the morning.) She duped Claudius and manipulated him into executing those who displeased or spurned her. She is also recorded as a lover of parties and festivities as well as an enthusiastic player of court politics who sold her influence to Roman nobles and foreign notables. Her name is now used as a synonym for others with her supposed vices.
Primus Aurelius Tergestus wrote:Cut the political correctness already! The ancients were not shy of describing disreputable male behavior. Yet you want to accept the historical fact of Julius Caesar's or Alexander's prolifigate behavior but say that Messalina wasn't a slut because history was written by macho men. Sheesh! Talk about a double standard distorting history.
Primus Aurelius Tergestus wrote:Any more candidates? I plan to set up a poll in which we can vote for the woman who was most likely reincarnated as Paris Hilton. Once the results are in, I will take it upon myself to inform Miss Hilton, or at least her fans, through a posting at the relevant web site.
"Paris Hilton Sex Video"
I just wanted to put that in so that more people searching on Google find SVR. Most will hit the "back" key hurriedly and in disappointment, but if only a small percentage of the millions of searchers are intrigued by SVR, we may end up with tens of thousands of new members!
Tergestus
Primus Aurelius Tergestus wrote:Attice,
Thank you for your scholarly and enlightening response. To tell the truth, I was merely trying to stir up some controversy and lively posting with my reply to Draco. I guess I should have expected something as well thought out as your missive from the SVR membership.
I maintain, however, that your arguments do not contradict my point: modern scholars accept at face value accounts of male sexual misbehavior (and I'm not talking about buggery- on either end- but something like Caesar's affair with Cleopatra) while dismissing accounts about Messallina and other women. It seems that Classical scholarship has allowed itself to be influenced by fashion, in this case political correctness. But then it has always been thus.